British energy union GMB has urged for renewable energy support to be tied to domestic manufacturing.
The union stated the UK’s large reliance on importing renewables infrastructure is a “missed opportunity to cut emissions and support UK manufacturing”.
The UK Government, this week, announced the Contact for Difference (CfD) scheme, which offers renewables producers the chance to bid for £285m of subsides to help develop an increase of 12GW of electricity capacity through renewable energy.
The scheme has incentives for developers building wind, solar and tidal powered schemes.
“But CfD does not appear to tie producers to any local content rules which would ensure the plant and equipment necessary for the projects is built within the UK,” stated GMB.
The union said this is “in contrast” with a similar scheme unveiled by US President Joe Biden which features subsidies tied to local content rules requiring 55% of steel used to be domestically produced.
Andy Prendergast, GMB national secretary, said: “Subsidies for renewable energy are welcome, but the failure to bring in local content rules in line with the US means that the carbon footprint of wind turbines and tidal powered facilities is going to be far higher than it needs to be.
“If the UK had taken the decision to replicate the requirements set down in the US plan, it would not only have ensured that the steel used was made to our high emissions standards but would also have helped secure vital jobs in the sector.
“Currently we import far too much of our renewables infrastructure – this is a missed opportunity to both cut emissions and support UK manufacturing.”